NEW ORLEANS (November 25, 2024) – The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its "Stars of the Week." College football fans can follow the Manning Award on social media (@ManningAward) to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. After voting closes on Wednesday at 9 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.
 
Voting opens at 11 a.m.
 
The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' bowl performances in its balloting. Since the Manning Award started recognizing Stars of the Week in 2011, 569 different quarterbacks from 135 schools have been recognized. Sixty-six players were honored during the 2023 season and 71 quarterbacks have been recognized so far in 2024.
 
This week's eight Manning Award Stars of the Week are:
 
Luke Altmyer, Illinois (12-of-26, 323 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 79.1)
Altmyer, who scored on a 30-yard touchdown run with 3:07 to go, connected on a 40-yard TD pass with four seconds to go (his third game-winning TD pass in the final minute or OT this year) as the Fighting Illini shocked Rutgers, 38-31, in a Big Ten road game.
 
Bryson Barnes, Utah State (13-of-15, 332 total yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 98.9)
Barnes, who came off the bench after an injury to Spencer Petras, passed for 139 yards and ran for 193 yards (school record for a quarterback) and led the Aggies to 41 unanswered points as they erased a 13-0 deficit to cruise to a 41-20 victory over San Diego State in MW action.
 
Rocco Becht, Iowa State (20-of-38, 283 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 84.9)
Becht directed the Cyclones to a 10-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by the go-ahead touchdown with 1:31 to go as the Cyclones remain in the mix to reach the Big 12 Championship game with a 31-28 road victory over Utah.
 
Braylon Braxton, Marshall (13-of-24, 350 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 89.3)
Braxton passed for a pair of first downs and ran for two more in an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by the go-ahead touchdown with 4:03 to go as the Thundering Herd topped Old Dominion, 42-35, on the road to hold onto a share of first place in the SBC West Division.
 
Kevin Jennings, SMU (25-of-33, 323 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 89.6)
Jennings, who passed for a career-best 323 yards, threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score as he kept the Mustangs undefeated in ACC play with a 33-7 road victory over Virginia.
 
Kyle McCord, Syracuse (37-of-47, 471 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 87.5)
McCord, who set the Syracuse record for single-season passing yards, tallied a career-best 470 passing yards (second-most in school history) as he led the Orange to a 31-24 win over Connecticut for its first eight-win season since 2018.
 
Fernando Mendoza, California (25-of-36, 334 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QBR: 76.7)
Mendoza, who matched his career-best with three touchdown passes, connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass on a 3rd-and-11 play with under three minutes to go to help the Golden Bears erase a 21-7 second-half deficit in a 24-21 ACC victory over Stanford in the Big Game.
 
Deshawn Purdie, Charlotte (16-of-30, 393 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, QBR: 88.0)
Purdie, who connected on a 47-yard touchdown pass with 5:25 to go, recorded a career-high with 393 passing yards (third-most in school history) as he led the 49ers to a 39-27 AAC win over Florida Atlantic.
 
The Manning Award selected 29 quarterbacks for its Watch List in the preseason and added an additional 14 quarterbacks on October 24. Finalists will be selected in early December and the winner is scheduled to be announced following the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In its first 20 years, the Manning Award has recognized the top names in college football. It has honored quarterbacks from 14 different schools and from four different conferences. The Southeastern Conference (Jayden Daniels, Stetson Bennett, Bryce Young, Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Johnny Manziel, Cam Newton, JaMarcus Russell and Tim Tebow) leads the way with nine Manning Award honorees, while the Big 12 Conference (Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Robert Griffin III) has had five winners. The Atlantic Coast Conference (Deshaun Watson twice, Matt Ryan and Jameis Winston) has had four Manning Award winners. LSU (Daniels, Burrow, and Russell) now leads the way with three honorees, while Alabama (Bryce Young and Jones), Oklahoma (Murray and Mayfield), and Texas (McCoy and Vince Young) have each produced a pair of Manning Award winners.

All the Manning Award winners follow in the footsteps of the Mannings themselves. In college, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning combined for over 25,000 passing yards and 201 touchdowns while playing in 10 bowl games and earning four bowl MVP awards. Archie was the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, while both Peyton and Eli were selected No. 1 overall.